Announcing Visual Studio 2010 and .NET FX 4 Beta 2

 

I am pleased to announce the release of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2. MSDN subscribers can download Beta 2 today. The beta will be available to the rest of the world on Wednesday.

Visual Studio 2010 has made significant enhancements since Beta 1. We’ve come a long way in performance and general stability, and while there is more work to do before we release Visual Studio 2010, we hope you’ll like what you see.

Beta 2 also includes integrated tooling for SharePoint, including project templates and debugging support, and runtime and tooling support for developing great Windows 7 applications.

Since Beta 1, new Windows Azure Tools templates make it easy to get started developing Windows Azure applications, and enhanced support for Silverlight 3 databindings let you focus on writing your code.

Team Foundation Server is now included in all versions of Visual Studio 2010 with MSDN. For small teams that need only core development features such as source control, bug tracking, and build automation, TFS Basic offers a simple, streamlined install and runs on server or client machines. Test Elements users will notice a more intuitive and responsive user interface.

We’ve been making improvements to the .NET Framework as well. I’m happy to say that the download size of .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 is greatly reduced from previous versions of the .NET Framework, with most flavors coming in under 50 megabytes. Significant improvements to WPF’s text rendering stack make text sharper. You will notice sharper text in the Visual Studio 2010 editor.

We are also announcing a simplified product lineup and pricing options today, as well as new benefits for MSDN subscribers. For MSDN Premium subscribers, the “Ultimate Offer” will offer access to the next level of Visual Studio 2010 at launch on March 22, 2010. Find out more about the new product lineup and the “Ultimate Offer” here.

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 is available today for MSDN subscribers and will be available October 21st for public download. Keep an eye on the Visual Studio 2010 Product Page for or sign up to be notified when it becomes available. The team and I are looking forward to hearing your feedback.

Namaste!